Oh wow, we'd get along fabulously as I love everything you've shown here. That H. Pistachio is fabu-fabu! and those tuberous begonias are incredible! I have a real problem here keeping begonias happy as I have issues with mildew that I have to be very vigilant or it gets out of control. I love your happy, eclectic mix of plants! Yum!

Thanks, it's kind of an unplanned visual cacophony in my garden as I'm one of those impulse plant buyers. I was reading your blog the other day and saw your brother's pond & surrounding rockwork - AMAZINGLY gorgeous!

Thanks! The clerodendrum is lovely & it's leaves smell like peanut butter when bruised but it can create quite a thicket! Having moved here from a zone 3 garden, I'm still amazed at how exotic things can look here!

Sweet jesus.... why has no one else commented on the rare and elusive beauty that is Dichroa febrifuga! I guess they are waiting patiently to see it fruit. I have been lusting [panting no less!] for this plant but have always pulled back at the last minute, worried that it would not last a winter for me. I know I can get it at a decent price from Fraser's Thimble Farms on Salt Spring's Island in BC..... thanks Peter, you've officially joined that elusive rank of being a favourite enabler! What can you tell me about this beauty?

I first saw this in full and glorious fruit at Heronswood many years ago & immediately fell in lust! I've killed a couple but since we now have a local grower, Steamboat Islad nursery, that produces these for us addicts, I continue to plant them. The one in the picture made it through a couple of winters during which the temperatures were in the low teens (F) without protection. It starts blooming for me late in July and berries come in late September.

The following is from San Marcos Growers' (California) website: Dichroa febrifuga A 3 to 7 foot tall by 5 foot wide, half-hardy evergreen shrub from the Hydrangea family. The 4 to 8 inch long dark green leaves resemble the foliage of Hydrangea with prominent veins and small serrations. The terminal end of the branches hold clusters of hydrangea-like flowers with white buds opening to bright blue flowers in spring and summer that are followed by metallic blue berries. As with the blue forms of Hydrangea the shade of blue of the flower is determined by soil pH (actually the availability of aluminum) and more acid soils produce bluer flowers. Plant in part sun to light shade with moderately moist soil. It is hardy and evergreen to 20-25 degrees F but defoliates much below these temperatures but plants knocked back by cold resprout from hard wood. Dichroa febrifuga is native to Nepal eastwards to southern China and into south-east Asia, where it grows at the forest edge. The specific epithet "febrifuga" is from the Latin words 'febris' meaning "fever" and 'fugare' meaning "to expel" in reference to this plants use of the plant as a febrifuge, acting to reduce fever. Herbalists have for centuries used the roots containing the chemical halofuginone for this treatment and its use as such is reported in the Himalayas, Malaysia and China. Additionally the plant is reportedly cultivated in Russia as an anti-malarial herb

Your garden and photos are lovely, so many nice plants. I have been lusting after Persicaria but having a really hard time finding it in local nurseries. The Thalictrum is amazing, do the bees like it? I like to follow PNW blogs but I like Google friend connect since I can't handle getting a lot of emails. You do like to push the zone envelope, I would lose since I am at a higher elevation.

Thank you! Persicaria is available at Far Reaches Farms, Dragonfly Farms, and I know I saw it for sale somewhere else here in western Washington. I haven't noticed a lot of bees on the Thalictrum. Yes, I love zonal denial but I bring quite a few plants in for the winter, a strategy that may work for you.

Wow...I'm so late in getting around to all these Bloom Day posts! I LOVE Persicaria 'Golden Arrow', they are so beautiful, I just wish they could take a bit more sun (then again, our scorching summer this year may be more to blame than just the sun). I'm so crushing on that Thalictrum!

About Me

Why Outlaw Gardener? I like to break the rules of good taste, plant placement, and plant hardiness. Also, I have received periodic "love notes" from the city code enforcement officer telling me that my parking strip plants encroach on the city's right-of-way. When expressing my distress over the latest such notice, I exclaimed to my pal Loree (Danger Garden) "I'm an outlaw gardener!" To which she replied,"That would be a good name for a blog."
My first gardens were in Southeast Alaska (zone 3.)I do miss the beauty and community of small-town Alaska but I don't take for granted for a moment how wonderful it is to garden in zone 8.